Maccabi Tel Aviv players, together with "Achim LaSemel", visited the Tel HaShomer rehabilitative hospital
Four Maccabi Tel Aviv players – Captain Shiran Yeini, Gal Alberman, Rafi Dahan and Eli Zizov – paid a special visit to the Tel Hashomer hospital for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, along with two representatives of "Achim LaSemel", an organisation of team fans volunteering for the community. The players met with patients in the various wards and gave out a Maccabi Tel Aviv scarf and hat, along with traditional holiday doughnuts. The players were accompanied and helped by Henry Avital, an exemplary Maccabi fan who attends every home game despite having been confined to a wheelchair ever since sustaining injuries in the first Lebanese war.
The players visited as many wards as possible, including the therapeutic pool and physical therapy ward, giving out doughnuts and gifts to all comers. The patients, some of whom are fans – youngsters, soldiers and adults alike – were surprised and excited to see the Maccabi Tel Aviv players. The scarves and hats, as well as the doughnuts, were generously donated by Said Abulafia of the Abulafia Bakery on Ibn Gvirol St. in Tel Aviv.
Gal Alberman offered his take on the visit: "We're trying to make a contribution that goes beyond our daily routines. We know how hard it is for these people but we'd like to bring them some good cheer. It was important to wish them a happy holiday, health and success in their recovery and we hope that in doing so we managed to help them a bit. You can't compare our injuries to what the patients here go through. It sounds like a cliché, but seeing the people here really does put life in perspective".
This is not Shiran Yeini's first visit to the hospital as a Maccabi Tel Aviv player: "I've been to many hospitals in recent years, people respond to it and are pleased by these visits. There were soldiers here and a casualty from the Burgas terrorist attack, as well as others who face this life day after day and it is great to be able to come here and bring them joy".
